Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 127368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
“So…the butler did it.”
Her lips quirked. “It would seem so.”
“A lot sure has gone on is this house.”
Her gaze slid to the books momentarily and then she gave me a small smile and said, “You can’t imagine.” She stood. “Now let’s get to bed. If you’d like to read some tomorrow before you leave, I’ll run interference for you. In the meantime, I’ll keep these safe for you.”
I still wasn’t sure they’d be mine because I wasn’t sure Ian would remain mine.
But I hoped he would, so I grinned at her and said, “Thanks.”
We turned out the lights and headed together into the hall, yes, you guessed it, arm in arm.
We made it to the foyer.
And as we did, sensing movement, we both looked up.
And at the body in the black dress plummeting down, I let out a blood-curdling scream.
Thirty-Nine
THE CULPRIT
The body careened off Persephone, and with a deafening crash, fell to the floor and flew apart on impact.
Jumping back, I screamed again.
My heart in my throat, Lady Jane and I clutching each other, I stared in shock, and it took a long moment for me to realize it was a mannequin dressed in a black flapper dress. The platinum wig on her head having flown off on landing, was resting several feet away.
I heard running steps, a commotion upstairs, a man’s grunt, and I turned to Jane and ordered, “Stay here, I’m getting Ian.”
I was halfway around the first flight when the lights came on, blinding me.
I then heard a man shout, “Stay right there!”
I looked up, my eyes adjusting to the light, and saw Sam leaning over the balustrade on the first floor, pointing at me.
When I stood still, he took off running.
Not away.
Up the stairs.
There were more noises on the top floor.
A struggle.
I started when someone touched me, looked and saw Lady Jane had joined me.
She took my hand.
I held it tight.
And then, at the landing at the top of the steps, I saw Ian in jeans and one of his long-sleeved T-shirts, and Daniel, wearing the same, shoving a man I’d never seen in my life toward the stairs.
They wound their way down, keeping him moving by pushing him, and Stevenson came out of the hall on the second floor.
Down farther, and more people emerged from the shadows. Richard. Christine. Bonnie. Jack. Rebecca, Harriett. And Laura.
“What on earth?” Lady Jane breathed.
“Go. To the Diamond Room,” Ian ordered us.
I didn’t quibble. Neither did Lady Jane.
We took off down the steps, and turning lights on along the way, we dashed to the Diamond Room.
Soon after, they all came in, sans Daniel, and Ian shoved the man to sitting on a couch.
He seemed to make a movement to get up, but stopped when Ian snarled, “Give me a reason.”
He sat back.
“We’ll wait until Daniel fetches Portia,” Ian announced. “I believe everyone in this house deserves your explanation.”
The man opened his mouth.
But when he did, Ian lost control, lunged at him and growled a ferocious, “Shut it!”
The man shut his mouth.
And boy, my guy was definitely hot when he got pissed. So much so, I had no idea what was going on, and I still didn’t miss it.
It seemed an interminable wait, but finally, Portia, wearing one of Daniel’s sweaters over her short nightie and some slippers, came in, her gaze darting around and landing on the man.
Ian started it immediately.
“As we’re all gathered here, in Dorothy’s favorite room, let’s begin. You saw the light on in the Sherry Room, and since we were all leaving tomorrow, you decided tonight’s the night, hmm?”
“I don’t have to answer your questions,” the man sniped.
“You don’t have to, but you’re going to,” Ian said in his dangerous voice.
The man swallowed.
But he didn’t say anything.
“Allow me to start,” Ian said expansively. “You bribed one of our cleaning girls to pay attention to things, like what I drank, and what Portia drank. Something she couldn’t see herself, but she could ask the others. This she did. Also to fetch things you couldn’t get your hands on because the staff corridors didn’t lead to them, and you couldn’t risk being seen in the main house. Like David’s pen. By the way, she’s being arrested right now. It’s frowned on by the police when someone is drugged without their knowledge.”
I gasped, even though I knew this, I just didn’t know who did it.
Portia and Lady Jane gasped with me.
And again, the man’s throat convulsed with his swallow.
This meant Ian’s deductions were correct.
“She also let you in,” Ian continued, “Giving you access to the corridors, and probably keeping a lookout, or placing the items herself in rooms that have no access, like the Smoking Room and the Jacaranda Room.”
He stared at Ian and kept his silence.
More proof, in my estimation, what Ian was saying was true.
“It wasn’t meant to be Daphne you drugged. It was meant to be Portia. And me. Why me?”